Why another left-back is desperately needed at Arsenal

The workload of the modern day full-back has changed over the years – they are now required to bomb forward and defend throughout the 90 minutes, which obviously requires great fitness, as well as other key attributes. To put it in a better way, the modern day full-back needs to have the defensive characteristics of say Italy great Paolo Maldini, combined with the attacking potency of Brazilian legend Cafu. Unfortunately one of our full-backs has neither.

In my opinion, Andre Santos does not have all the qualities required to be a good Premier League full-back. His athleticism and fitness is way below par, and his ability to attack and track back is nonexistent at times. Offensively, he is alright, but he finds it hard to get back in his position and leaves chasms of space for opponents to exploit. His performance yesterday at Old Trafford backs my case.

Going forward he looked good, but the ease at which Antonio Valenica made his way past him shows he’s simply not up to it.

So why do we need to sign another left-back in January?

Well firstly to give Kieran Gibbs a run for his money.

Secondly, Gibbs has had trouble with injuries; we need someone capable of covering him when the youngster is unavailable.

And finally, because Santos is not good enough to play for a big club like Arsenal.